Google has been fined €50 million ($57 million) by French authorities for breaking the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.

The news: France’s National Data Protection Commission (CNIL) concluded that Google is flouting the European Union’s privacy law in two ways. First, by failing to explain its data collection policies properly, and second, by failing to get users’ consent for data processing and ad personalization across its services, including its search engine, Google Maps, and YouTube.

Record-breaker: The fine is the biggest so far under GDPR, which came into force in May 2018. It was handed out in response to two complaints filed on the day the law went into effect, by NOYB, a watchdog launched by Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems, and French digital rights group La Quadrature du Net.

Charlotte JeeI write The Download, the only newsletter in tech you need to read every day. Before joining MIT Technology Review I was editor of Techworld. Prior to that I was a reporter covering the intersection of politics, the public sector and technology. In my spare time I run a venture called Jeneo aimed at making tech events more inclusive. I regularly do public speaking and crop up on the BBC from time to time. Sign up for The Download here.

ImageSilas Stein | Picture Alliance | DPA | AP Images

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Charlotte JeeI write The Download, the only newsletter in tech you need to read every day. Before joining MIT Technology Review I was editor of Techworld. Prior to that I was a reporter covering the intersection of politics, the public sector and technology. In my spare time I run a venture called Jeneo aimed at making tech events more inclusive. I regularly do public speaking and crop up on the BBC from time to time. Sign up for The Download here.

ImageSilas Stein | Picture Alliance | DPA | AP Images

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